


How To Save A Life

by Shsldork



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-07
Updated: 2018-05-07
Packaged: 2019-05-03 10:25:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14566995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shsldork/pseuds/Shsldork
Summary: “Just… do it.”Everything within him was ready, but his hand’s iron grip was persistent. He was shaking. From the cold or from nerves, he couldn’t really say. Or maybe he was just gripping the beam that hard, one last part of him still desperate to cling to life.“On the count of three, okay,” he made a quiet promise to himself, “one..”Before he could get to the count of two, a loud voice rung out, “hey! What are you doing?!”





	How To Save A Life

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so just for the record, I wrote this at 3am one night because I couldn't go to sleep, so it's probably kinda crappy and I haven't had the chance to edit it, but if I don't post it now, it won't ever be posted so here you go. Also I meant for Shuichi and Kaito to be seen as friends in this, but ay, if you wanna see it as a ship, be my guest, my dude. I ship it myself, but that's just not what I intended. Anyway uhhhhhh don't judge me too harshly, also be aware that in the beginning Shuichi is about to commit suicide so hey, be careful if that kinda stuff triggers you, okay? Take care of yourself. Anyways that's all I gotta say so peace ✌️

He looked down at the stream below him, cold wind blowing through his hair and into his face. With one hand, he moved his hair out of the way, with the other, he gripped a metal support beam, used to keep this bridge in tact. He stared into the depths of the water, the surface calm, though the peace was soon to be disturbed. He wondered if the water reflected how he’d feel in his last moments on this planet, plummeting to his early demise. He gripped the beam tighter.

“C'mon, Shuichi, you can do this…” he muttered to himself, steeling his nerves, “no one will miss you anyways.”

He continued to stare into the depths below him. Would this drop even kill him? He hoped so… he wouldn’t want to have to explain a broken arm or leg.

He breathed in, feeling the sting of cold air in his lungs one final time, and breathed out.

“Just… do it.”

Everything within him was ready, but his hand’s iron grip was persistent. He was shaking. From the cold or from nerves, he couldn’t really say. Or maybe he was just gripping the beam that hard, one last part of him still desperate to cling to life.

“On the count of three, okay,” he made a quiet promise to himself, “one..”

Before he could get to the count of two, a loud voice rung out, “hey! What are you doing?!”

Shuichi stiffened at the sound of the voice, frozen in place as if that voice had made the weather outside ten times colder. He didn’t move, but he could hear the sound of footsteps rapidly coming closer to him. He heard the voice again.

“Hey! Answer me! What are you doing?!”

“G-Go away,” Shuichi stuttered out, surprised at how meek his own voice sounded. It sounded pained, and sad, and alone, and when did he start crying? Had he been crying this whole time?

“Hell no! Get down from there!”

“I-I said leave me alone!” It sounded more forceful than he’d intended for it to sound. Then again, maybe force was what was needed to get this guy to leave him alone.

“No,” the masculine voice was softer than before, though still assertive, “I can’t do that. Come off that ledge, I want to talk.”

Shuichi whipped his head around to face the man who had almost witnessed his suicide, and cleared his blurry vision with his right hand. The man looked to be around his age actually - not even a man, just a high school student, though the voice could’ve fooled him - and… he looked familiar. Instead of questioning this, Shuichi looked back at the water, muttering a small, “why should I,” in response.

“Because I said I want to talk to you,” the guy’s voice was a bit agitated, but he went back to his softer tone quickly, “seriously, can you come off that ledge? You could get hurt.”

Shuichi looked at him from out of the corner of his eye, “you don’t think I know that?”

The guy’s face looked concerned before, but as if his suspicions about what was happening were being confirmed, his face grew only more so. Then, his concern turned from that to a steely determination. He extended his hand towards Shuichi, “give me your hand. I’ll help you down.”

Shuichi glanced down toward his hand, then glanced back at the water, and turned back to the guy, taking his hand. He helped him off the ledge, and almost immediately, Shuichi collapsed onto his knees, shaking hard. He could feel the tears flowing from his eyes again, but this time he couldn’t control it. The guy sat down in front of him, a confident smile on his face, “see? That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

Shuichi just shook, not sure how to process what had just happened, and the guy’s brows furrowed.

“Are you gonna be alright?”

Shuichi looked up at him, and though the tears in his eyes made everything blurry, he thought he could make out the look of concern back on this guy’s face. Shuichi couldn’t form words, and kept looking at him, tears falling from his cheeks down to the ground below him.

“Hey, I’m asking you a question… I’ll ask you something simpler. What’s your name?”

After a few seconds, Shuichi finally managed to stop crying long enough to croak out his name, “Shuichi.. Shuichi Saihara.”

The other guy grinned, “now we’re getting somewhere,” and he extended his hand forward, saying, “I’m Kaito Momota, luminary of the stars!”

Shuichi sniffed, wiping his face, “L-Luminary of the stars?”

Kaito nodded, “one day, I’m going to be an astronaut!”

Shuichi couldn’t even muster a polite smile at the childish dream, and said, “that’s going to be difficult.”

Kaito frowned, “I know that,” he grinned again, his eyes showing a fiery passion and determination, “but I’m not one to give up so easily!”

Shuichi looked him over before nodding and saying, “I’d believe that.”

Kaito’s face turned a bit… angry, or maybe frustrated is a better word, before he bluntly asked, “why were you about to give up, and throw away your life like that? Life is precious, you know. You only get one chance to live.”

Shuichi looked down at the ground, before solemnly muttering, “I don’t deserve it.”

Kaito’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion, “why not? Everyone deserves the chance to live.”

“I.. I just… I’m a nuisance to everybody, and nobody cares that much anyways.”

Kaito stayed silent for a few moments, before asking, “do you have a family? Any siblings?”

“Ah, no siblings, but I have my parents and my uncle.”

“And friends?”

“Uh… A few.”

“And… you don’t think they’d all care if they found out you were dead in the stream? You don’t think they’d be sad?”

Shuichi frowned, “well, yeah, they’d be sad, but they’d get over it eventually. I’m not that important.”

“Shuichi,” he looked up at Kaito, “of course you’re important. You’re one of a kind, and I can guarantee you that your death would impact them more significantly than you think. Your parents and uncle would think about you for years to come, and your friends… they’ll wonder if they were to blame in all of this. They’ll wonder if there was anything else they could’ve-”

“Believe me, I know.”

Kaito seemed a bit taken aback, frowning, “then why would you want to go through with it?”

“Because I don’t think I’m worth all of this. I don’t deserve my friends, and they deserve better than me.”

“You are worth it though, and I’m sure your friends would miss you.”

“You’re just saying that.”

“Believe me, I’m really not. That’s a Kaito Momota guarantee,” he flashed a bright smile at Shuichi, “I’ve been told I’m a really good judge of character.”

Shuichi sat on this for a moment, before asking, “do you go to Hope’s Peak?”

Kaito’s face lit up a bit, “I knew I recognized you from somewhere! That’s it, isn’t it?”

Shuichi nodded, “do… do you remember a girl named Kaede?”

Kaito thought on this for a moment, before saying, “oh, yeah, I do! She was the one who died in that car crash a year back, right?”

Shuichi grimaced at the reminder, the memory of her funeral flashing through his mind, before he nodded and said, “yeah, her. She… She was my best friend.”

Realization set into Kaito’s face, and he looked at Shuichi, “I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”

A sad smile spread across Shuichi’s face, “it’s fine,” then he frowned again, “before… before the accident, she and I… we had a fight. I told her that… that I hated her. It was in the heat of the moment, and I didn’t mean it, but… she stormed off before I got the chance to apologize, and then… later on..” Shuichi clutched his chest, a pain forming in his heart, but he continued, “I didn’t get to say good bye, and I didn’t get to say I’m sorry to her. It… It haunts me, knowing that… when she died, she thought I hated her. She.. She was the best friend I ever had, and… I didn’t hate her at all. I loved her. Now… Now she’ll never know.”

Kaito looked at Shuichi, “and… what? You don’t think she’d forgive you?”

Shuichi looked up at him, “why should she have? I didn’t appreciate her while she was alive, and I let her down. She would have no reason to forgive me.”

“Shuichi, I know for a fact she’d forgive you. You may not think so, but she cared about you as much as you cared about her, and even if she was upset at you in the moment for saying what you did, I think she knew that you didn’t mean it, and most importantly,” he gave his confident smile again, “she wouldn’t want you to die over survivor’s guilt. Even if that’s not all that lead you to attempt this, wouldn’t she want you to keep living? To keep fighting? Wouldn’t she want you to stay alive, for her sake, if not your own?”

Shuichi’s eyes widened at Kaito, before he looked down sheepishly, “yeah… yeah, she would. I… can hear her saying that to me.”

Kaito laid a hand on Shuichi’s shoulder, “then all you have to do is keep going!”

Shuichi looked up at him, a small smile forming on his face, “thank you…”

“Now,” Kaito stood up, stretching, “where do you live?”

“Huh?”

“Where do you live? I want to make sure you get home safely. It’s pretty dark, after all.”

“What? But what about you? You should be getting home too.”

“Hah, no worries, I can take care of myself,” Kaito winked and gave Shuichi a thumbs up.

“Well… okay,” Shuichi stood up as well, “hey… what were you doing out so late anyways?”

“Huh? Well… I was sitting in bed, and I couldn’t fall asleep, and sometimes I get these urges to go outside and take walks. Well, tonight, the urge was really strong, and… I felt like there was somewhere I had to be that wasn’t in my room, you know? Somewhere where I was needed.”

Shuichi smiled. A real, genuine smile.

“Well… I think you found out exactly where you needed to be. Thank you, Kaito.”

Kaito beamed, and said, “hey, if you ever need to talk, I’m here alright? People care about you, and I know that because I’m one of them! Things will be hard from here still, and there will be more times you’ll want to give up, but there’s always another way, so don’t give up, you hear me?”

Shuichi chuckled a bit, and Kaito’s brows furrowed, “what’s so funny, Shuichi?”

“Ah, nothing, you just… really remind me of someone I was close to.”


End file.
